let's take a closer look at the health effects of ultrafine dust and what we
can do to protect ourselves from its harmful effects we're happy to have dr.
Christopher Caston head of respiratory medicine at the University of British
Columbia and director of the air pollution lab who's joining us on skype
from just outside of Vancouver a dr. Carlston we've been forced to enjoy this
really depressing week of hazardous levels of ultrafine dust in South Korea
between five to eight times what's considered safe firstly can you tell us
what fine dust does to the human body and why it's considered so harmful right
thanks mark I do I feel for your viewers I was watching and I really see the the
problem very graphically the the fine particles
are those that are less than 2.5 micron so they're not visible each particle to
the naked eye but of course you can see on your screens when the particles are
all together in a large air mass you can see the the group together but because
they're so small they get deep into the lung and they can even get into the
bloodstream and cause inflammation that's why these particles are dangerous
not only for the lungs but also for the bloodstream and even the the heart so
heart and lung disease as well as other disease have all been associated with
these particles the the key thing is that most of the affects thankfully are
long-term and so I know your your viewers have been suffering for days now
we can hope that it will pass and I'm sure it will pass and we can get through
this episode for the the short-term effects which are obviously of the
greatest concern right now I saw the masks and I think for this kind of
exposure scenario masks are reasonable but staying indoors is really the the
best thing you can do if possible okay and yes most of us would
we prefer to be outside enjoying the early spring weather but of course that
isn't advisable as you say and I must say we're very jealous of the blue skies
we can see behind you but like you say during periods like this is that your
advice then we should stay inside whenever possible keep the window shut
have an air purifier going and if we do go outside for prolonged periods
aside from wearing a facemask something that's enough to protect you from the
finest particles what's what are the other best ways to protect yourself the
other thing when you're outdoors if you really need to be there and I understand
we we do need to be outside for practical purposes is to minimize the
intensity of activity so the respiratory rate which is related to how fast you
breathe and how deep you deeply you breathe is a huge factor in in terms of
how much air pollution gets deep into the lung so exercising in these
conditions is is really not advised but on the other hand it's really important
to to let your viewers know mark that even though I see the pollution I see
the numbers I see how bad it is this is not likely to be dangerous for most
people for a short period of time it may make them uncomfortable but it won't put
them at severe risk for most people that don't have pre-existing disease on the
other hand the elderly and those that have pre-existing long and heart disease
are the ones who should take special care so it's a it's a fine line between
not having excessive amounts of angst and and having people completely ruin
their their daily lives over concern but at the same time being very careful that
yes indeed those that are older those that have heart lung disease really
should if if at all possible stay inside and moderate activity okay well that's
good news for those of us who are relatively healthy because we don't hear
much about that on the local media here there is a lot of fear and concern as
you say you're also the director of the air pollution lab so you're an expert on
air pollution why do you think these small confined us is just so bad
in South Korea at the moment a lot of people here blame China do you think
that's an accurate assessment well I saw those numbers and I was a bit surprised
it was worse than I had realized so I think it really depends on whether
you're talking about long-term averages or short-term averages the long-term
averages I'm sure have much to do with South Korea itself and the traffic and
the industry in South Korea but I think these short-term effects like this
probably have a lot to do with meteor logic factors wind and pressure and
indeed the direction of the wind so on a day or a period a week or so or even
longer that the wind is coming from China well there's no question that
that's going to affect South Korea's air quality but I think it's just important
not to blame China universally year-round because it's much more
complicated than that so I'm sure China is contributing but not every day and
not all the time so we have to understand those
subtleties a bit okay well finally we'd love to have you on for the full half an
hour to be honest we've got plenty of questions we'd like to pick your brains
about but if you were to advise the South Korean government about ways to
mitigate fine dust what would you suggest they do is it really going to
take something drastic to ensure that we aren't subjected to this find us for
years decades to come well as you say years and decades I mean I honestly
think although it is a long term and more complex solution global
partnerships to reduce fossil fuel use to curb climate change things that are
very complicated but I think without doing those we're going to continue to
face these problems and they're going to get worse those absolutely have to be
high in the government agenda on the short-term basis I did hear about
possible subsidies to air filters and other things the government can do to
lessen the burden on the everyday citizen and I think that's money very
well spent in the long term that money is not going to be a ton but it could
help especially those vulnerable people with heart and lung disease so I
think it's a it's a very smart thing for the government to do okay dr. Carlston
go back and enjoy the rest of your skiing vacation we appreciate you
breaking into that to speak to us and thank you for your insights on the fine
dust issue affecting us here in South Korea appreciate it I wish you the best
thank you